Scrapper Blackwell
Mr. Scrapper's Blues
Story time: back in 2001 my band the Dirtbombs made a trip to the Amoeba Records outpost in San Francisco. One of the higher-up employees there is a man named Tom Lynch, one of a long list of former bass players in the Dirtbombs.
Anyway, we were getting ready to roll out of the store and on to our next destination when Mick, the lead singer, hollers at me we gotta go in so many words. Tom overhears this and his mind is blown.
"Did you say 'lets go Scrapper?' As in, Scrapper Blackwell, the legendary blues singer from North Carolina?!?!?! Man, that is so cool, what a great reference. Your references are always so sick. What a cool band dynamic."
Mick clarifies "No. I said 'Let's go cracker.'"
So....post a comment here about something you misheard, that was better the way it was misheard. Post your comment by midnight central time May 1st. Best comment as discerned by me gets a copy of this Scrapper Blackwell LP. Can't go wrong.
When I was in Iraq we had responded for a call to support a patrol that was hit with a roadside bomb. When we got to the site there was a local on a ridge with a shovel in hand. As we approached the individual he started to run in which case our team started chase him down. From another vehicle I heard a Soldier yell "DON"T FIRE HE IS HEAVILY TIRED As we caught up to the individual we realized that the individual was not involved in the bombing and was MENTALLY RETIRED.
When I was a kid, I had misheard the word hybrid. So there was one day when me and my siblings were hanging out with some friends, and I was going to try to crack a joke about one of my sisters, I was going to call them a hybrid for whatever reason. The actual words that came out of my mouth was saying that my sister was inbred, let me tell you, I have never gotten quite that exact look from another person ever again in my life as I did that day! I am proud to say that my sister is not inbred, though she might be a hybrid of something?
If you want a musical one, Something in the Way by Nirvana, I always thought it was “living off of grass and the drippings from my s*men” I guess it’s ceiling. But the song somehow becomes more disturbing with the misheard lyric.
Early in my relationship with my fiancé (we’re getting married this September!), I got a high and tight comb over haircut (a new style for me), and I wasn’t too pleased with it, I felt like it made me look like one of those conservative man-boys you see debating college kids. I got home and asked my fiancé what she thought and she said “It’s kinda… alright.” but I heard “It’s kinda alt-right.” and I was mortified! We laughed about it but I never got my hair cut like that again.
Excuse me while I kiss this guy… Jimi Hendrix
Bottle of red… Bottle of white… whatever gets me laid tonight… Billy Joel (Jon – from Delocated – adult swim)
Okay, so just a bit of context, my favorite all time solo artist is Prince. Jack is right behind him. (Btw, I think of Jack as a modern day/current generation of the singular musician in so many ways is quite astonishing e.g. guitar virtuoso, multi-instrumentalist, genre hopping, and so much more, I could write a book.)
Back to the question at hand. I remember when the song, “When Doves Cry” first hit. I was 13. My family couldn’t afford the album so I didn’t have access to the lyrics. So for the longest time, I thought that the following lyrics,
“How can you just leave me standing
Alone in a world that’s so cold? (So cold)
Maybe I’m just too demanding
Maybe I’m just like my father, too bold
Maybe you’re just like my mother
She’s never satisfied (she’s never satisfied)
Why do we scream at each other?
This is what it sounds like
When doves cry”
I was convinced the lyric was…
“Maybe you’re just like my mother
She’s never sat inside (sat inside)”
I think “my version” in its specificity is more visually haunting in a way.
Back in my server days at a chain restaurant in Michigan, I had a table of cheerful folks visiting from the South. I asked if they’d like something to drink, and they all nodded enthusiastically and said, “We’ll have some Asti!”
Naturally, my brain heard Spumante—you know, the bubbly stuff people order to celebrate. So, thinking it must be someone’s birthday or anniversary, I went all in. I grabbed a chilled bottle of champagne, polished up some flutes, and returned to the table like I was hosting the Oscars. With a flourish, I popped the cork, and pop!—bubbly sprayed just a bit, as it should. Glasses were poured, smiles expected.
Except…they just stared at me like I’d brought them a platter of moon rocks.
After a painfully awkward pause, one of them leaned in and said gently, “Uh… I think we ordered the iced tea.”
Cue my soul leaving my body.
I love all these Bluesville reissues!
Scapper is classic delta blues despite not being from the area. Kokomo Blues was later borrowed and recorded as Sweet Home Chicago by Robert Johnson. His influence on the blues down south is undeniable!
True Story: “can I get the check?” Few minutes later the waitress returns and sets a small glass brimming with amber liquid on the table in front of me. I stared at it slightly confused looking around at my friends at the table. “what’s this?” I said to the waitress. To which she replied “shot of jack”
So this requires a little setup. First, my grandmother is named Ruth and my stepfather used to work at a place called Gearhart. So the is that me and my stepfather were driving somewhere and he said that lady reminds me of Amelia Earhart. I guess he was talking about a lady He just saw out the window that looks like Amelia Earhart. so I couldn’t understand why he would say that and second it took me a while and then I said, how does that lady remind you of my grandmother Ruth at Gearhart? We both looked at each other and laughed, and he said no I said that lady reminds me of Amelia Earhart and so that’s how the story goes.